Self-classifying ball mill



Dec. 16, 1947. J H, DRYER l2,432,610

SELF-CLASS IFYING BALL MILL 7o/727 H Dryer Dec. 16, 1947. J. H. DRYERSELF-CLASSIFYING BALLy MILL Filed sept. 19, 1944 3 sheets-sheet 2 De.16, 1947. J. H. DRYER SELF-@LASSIFYING BALL MILL Filed Sept. 19, 1944 3Sheets-Sheet 3 :inventor Patented Dee. is, 1947 1 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SELF-CLASSIFYING BALL MILL John H. Dryer, Moose PassrTerritory ofApplication September 19, 1944, Serial No. 554,824

2 Claims. (Cl. 241-44) tom of a casing and ilows upwardly therein andout through upper ends of overow pipes passing upwardly through thebottom of the casing Vand not only carry iine particles of ore upwardlyto the surface of the water and out' through the overflow pipes, butalso carry coarse ore upwardly in step by step movements from one set ofgrinders to another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grinder 4wherein the oreis delivered through a pipe extending vertically at the center of thecasing and out through the lower end of the pipe at such point that itwill be acted upon by a lower set of grinders and then carried upwardlyto other grinders. y

Another object of the invention is to provide grinders consisting ofballs mounted between plates, certain of the plates being held againstturning and others being rotated with a tubular shaft constitutinganginlet pipe for the ore.

Another object of the invention is to provide thegrinder with jacks forapplying pressure to thel uppermost disc and cause good grinding actionto take place between the grinder balls and companion discs as certainof the discs turn with the center shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ore grinder whereindiscs are mounted in a casing in such manner that they may be readilyremoved through theopen top of the casing when necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ore grinder which issimple in construction and very efficient in operation.

- In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken vertically through the improved oregrinder.;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View on the lin 2-2 of Fig. 1. A i

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the line 3- 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a, sectional view on the line- 4-4 of Fig-1.-

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. f

This improvedv ore grinder has 'a casing I upper end and the walls carryguides or tracks 3 which extend vertically and are spaced from eachother circumferentially of the casing. Overflow pipes 4 extendvertically through the bottom or base of the casing in clrcumferentiallyspaced relation to each other and these pipes have their lower endportions threaded and screwed into opening in the base 2 andcommunicating with valves 5 for controlling iiow of water through thepipes from a suitable source. There has also been provided a pipe line8, controlled by a valve 'I, and having a vertically disposed endportion or nipple 8v which is engaged in an opening 9 formed centrallyof the base 2 so that water may be fed to the casing. A disc III restsupon the base 2 within the casing and this disc is formed with a centralopening Il in which is ntted a. hood I2 dening a water inlet chamber andhaving a substantially conical top I3 formed of perforated metal so thatwater entering theA chamber through pipe line 6 will be dischargedtherefrom as streams oi water which ow upwardly in the casing to nllthecasing with water. When the casing is lled to the upper ends of thepipes 4, water will overow through pipes 4 and carry with it anymaterial oating upon the water or of such lightness that it will becarried into the -pipes with the water.

The grinding means within'the casing includes the disc Ill and otherdiscs I4, I5,`l6, II, I8, i9 and 2d, together with balls 2l, 22, 23 and24, the balls 2l being located between the discs l0 and ill and theballs 22 being located between the discs i 5 and I 6. These balls arelarge and, between the discs I1 and I8 and the discs I 9 and 2U, aredisposed the balls 23 and 24v, the balls 23 an'd 2,4 being ofappreciably smaller diameter than the balls 2l and 22. Confronting facesof the companion discs are formed with circular grooves 25 constitutingannular seats for the balls and permitting said balls to have rollingmotion without moving out of their proper positions relative tov thediscs and each other. as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The large balls 2l and22 grind coarse ore and the smallerballs 2 3 and 24 grind finer orecarried upwardly to them by the flowing water. Spacers-26, which havethe form of iron strips curved longitudinally. are disposed "betweendiscs I4 and I5 and between discsl I8 an'd I9, and have their inner endsformed with hooks 2B engaged ls, ls and le are rotary discs but thediscs lo.' ls, I1 and 20 are held against rotation, and, referring toFig. 1, it will be seen that they carry studs or stems'28 screwed intothe discs and projecting .radially therefrom for engagement in thetracks 3 formed by the companion bars shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Referringto these figures, it will be seen that the stems or pins 2 3 hold thediscs carrying them against rotation and also guide vertical movement ofthese discs in the casing during use of the grinder. A11 of the discsare formed in their peripheral faces with sockets 29 so that pins may betted into the sockets and then engaged by 'a grapple for hoisting thediscs out of the casing or lowering them into place.

A hollow shaft 30, rectangular in cross section, extends vertically inthe casing over the nozzle I2 and through openings of the discs and isconnected with the rotary discs I4 and I5 by keys 3| so that these discsturn with the shaft, the discs I8 and I9 being formed with openingshaving squared portions, (see Fig. 4) to snugly receive the shaft andcause the'm to turn with the shaft. The other discs are formed withcircular openings throughA which the shaft passes and attention iscalled to the fact that the openings of the discs are of such size andshape that crushed ore' and water may shaft carries a thrust collar 38held thereon by set screws 39. Within the hollow shaft fits theelongatedspout 40 of a hopper 4I which is supported by a suitable numberof braces 42 and may be of any size desired. -The crushed ore is fed tothe hopper and from the hopper it ows through its spout and into theshaft 40 down which it flows into the tube 32. After flowing Athroughthe tube the ore enters the lower portion of shaft 30 and is deliveredtherefrom directly over nozzle I3, so that the streams of waterdischarged from the nozzle will carry the crushed ore upwardly throughthe center openings of the discs. The heaviest ore remains upon the discIii for grinding by the balls 2| but the lighterore is carried upwardlyto the other discs, a portion of the ore being delivered between thediscs I5 and I6 for grinding by the balls 22 and other portions beingcarried upwardly and deposited between discs I1 and I8 for grinding byballs 23 and between discs I9 and 20 for grinding by balls 2.4. It willthus be seen that the crushed ore will be progressively acted upon bythe balls as it is carried upwardly. Eventually, the ore will be reducedto such state of flneness that it will float upon the water or besuspended in the water and pass out with the water through the overflowpipes 4. A pulley 43 is carried by shaft 40 and is preferably locatedbetween beams 31 where it will be out of the way, and, when a belt isengaged about this pulley, rotary motion may be transmitted from anengine to the shaft.

It is necessary to apply downward pressure to the discs so that wearupon the balls and discs .will be compensated for and also suflicientpressure applied to grind the crushed ore. Therefore, there havebeenprovided hydraulic jacks 44 carried by I-beams 45 and extendingdownwardly therefrom. These jacks carry collars 46 at their lower endsand these collars are provided with set downward pressure to the discsand, by adjusting' the jacks, tension of the springs may be controlled.It will thus be seen that the desired pressure may be applied forefilcient grinding of the ore carried to the discs by the upwardlymoving stream of water.

' In order that additional crushed ore may be fed'.

to the grinding discs and balls, there has been provided an auxiliaryhopper 5I which is dis-s posed over the upper disc with its spout 52fitting snugly into the center opening of this disc. The ore fed to thishopper or funnel passes downwardly 'through' its spout and as it leavesthe spout 5 2, it

flows downwardly through openings of the other discs through theupwardly moving water which vseparates the crushed ore and allows heavyore to reach the lower discs and delivers the lighter ore to the upperdiscs.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: f

l. An ore grinder comprising a casing having a Awater inlet at itsbottom, a plurality of substantially'horizontal discs in said casing,all having aligned openings at their centers, certain of said discs,including upper and lower ones, being nonrotatable, and others beingrotatable and disposed between non-rotatable discs, balls vbetweenconfronting faces of companion rotatable and nonrotatable discs, ahollow shaft non-circular in cross section disposed vertically in saidcasing over the water inlet and passing through the aligned openingsformed in said discs centrally thereof, said shaft being connected withthe rotatable discs for rotating the same, a tubularl drive shaftdisposed vertically over said casing and entering the rst shaft throughthe upper end thereof, said drive shaft conforming to the crosssectional shape of the first shaft and tting lsnugly therein for turningthe rst shaftwith it, means for rotating the drive shaft, ineans fordelivering crushed ore into the drive shaft through the upper endthereof, the openings in the discs through which the rst shaft passeshaving portions of their walls spaced from the said shaft and providingore passages about the rst shaft through which ore is carriedupwardly'by water owing upwardly from the water inlet, a hopper over thetop disc surrounding the first shaft and having a depending neckiittingsnugly into the opening of the top disc for delivering an ladditionalsupply of ore into the casing through the center passages of the discs,and means Vfor applying downward pressure to the top disc.

2. An ore grinder comprising acasing open at its top and having acentrally located water inlet at its bottom, a plurality of-substantially horizontal discs in said casing disposed one aboveanother, and all having aligned openings at their centers, certain ofsaid discs being. rotatable, and others companion thereto beingnon-rotatable, the upper one of said discs being anon-rotatable disc,balls between confronting faces of companion rotatable and non-rotatablediscs, a. hollow shaft disposed vertically in said casing over the waterinlet and passing downwardly through openings formed in said discscentrally thereof with its lower end spaced upwardly from the waterinlet, said shaft being engaged with the rotatable discs forrotatingsame, with the shaft,

shaft, a tubular drive shaft disposed vertically over said casing andentering the rst shaft through the upper end thereof, and havingengagement with the rst shaft for turning the rst shaft with the driveshaft, means for rotating the drive shaft, means for deivering crushedore into the drive shaft through the upper end thereof, ore leaving thelower ends of said shaft being carried upwardly through the waterpassages by the upwardly moving water, an overhead support provided witha bearing rotatably receiving the drive shaft, jacks depending from thesupport, the non-rotatable upper disc being provided with sockets, and'springs between the sockets and the jacks for urging the discsdownwardly.

JOHN H. DRYER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5 le ofthis patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS

